TBT...most of my life, 2007 and a bit after that...Blue were her eyes, Blue as the skies, just like the blue skirt you wore...Come Back, Blue Lady Come Back, dont be blue anymore. I took that lyric from an old Polish folk song my Grandma and Mom used to sing together. In an oddly sweet mom-daughter harmony they didnt even try to create. It simply was. Dad, however, was Master of Ceremonies AND harmonies, and would settle for no less than 4-part! My 70s childhood is filled with summer memories of family gatherings. Usually at my parents. We did, however, live a stones throw from Aunt Rosie and Uncle Al, my Dads sister and her husband. Our families spent many happy times bouncing holidays and anydays back and forth cuz we could, and why NOT? We loved each other! All us kids got along. Mom and Aunt Rosie played 2 Decks With Jokers(still no idea. Fish war and Uno. If I didnt look so much like her I would get Dna testing!) And colored their hair. Dad and Uncle Al cooked, shared beers and songs and pretended not to notice their wives hair or their kids chaos! Now, in this gaggle of goofballs, there were 4 outnumbered chicks. Mom and Auntie, my cousin Tina, and me! My dad called Tina Tweena, and he was the ONLY one who did! That is Uncle Sonnys name for me, thank YOU! The three of them kept the boys from picking on me and exposed me to more girlie things like gossip and fashion, not recreating the planet Tatooine in the dust patch Cuddles or Heidi dug up. (Their dog, our dog). Christmas vacation was looked forward to because the food in between both houses always promised to be phenomenal! Us kids would have a Whats your mom, your dad, making, bringing.. forum. Thats why one of the pictures I looted from Twe-uh...Tinas time line has Uncle Al and Aunt Rosie with a Santa hat! That and I could find no Easter pics! Uncle Al had the yelling Hard-ass reputation. maybe he dont like ANY of us! We mused. Yeah. THATS why he would constuct an Easter Basket from a roaster pan that would have fit a pterydactyl, and as long as we A-left his bag of black jelly beans alone and B- ate all our dinner, he would not say a word of the fact that we all spent the day grabbing handfuls of whatever we could while running past. In the house. Like? Um I think thats love! Who cares? There were songs to sing, dammit! EVERYBODY sang at every family gathering. Repeatedly if you had one or two you were good at! You had to pretend you didnt want to of course. Done to death. Too tired. But the begging wouldnt stop and when you wailed it out( Ed, Joe, Cousin Joe Cousin drunken sailorTom(the song not your Navy service!), the place went nuts! So that Blue Lady song. Mom had amazing blue eyes. Joe and Ed got them. Dan got The Provost greens. Me? Im Mom from the cheekbones down, Dad from the cheekbones up. Including his eyebrows! Thanks Dad! The last time I saw and talked to my mother, that song stuck in my head. It was the Sunday before her final stroke. Becky had spent the night with them so I was picking her up. I visited, cooked shells and cheese, talked. And I kept thinking about how wonderfully blue her eyes were. They seemed to stand out that day. And we kept squeezing on each other. I love yous plinked back and forth like tiddly winks! We have to come see Kitty, mom said( she and dad had fallen nutso in love with our cat!) Ok! Beck and I agreed. We will do dinner! All week long, I wanted to call them. When it could COUNT, spend more than 5 minutes just checking in. That Sunday I had some time but they had gone down for chow. I left a message. When the phone rang it was from the hospital. Tests had to be run, I was told. Not sure what we were dealing with. We all talked of how by the time results were in shed be watching game shows. Instead she accepted a scholarship to Guardian Angel Academy. The Blessed Mother is Mother Superior at that school, and mom was ready to meet her and explain why Heavens Bingo Hall needed to carry Red Dollars AND Caramel Nips! The next day, Mom would be removed from life support and made comfortable. So we all were put in a banquet hall sized waiting room. I thought about how I was glad Id told her how much I loved her. But the next day at work I had thought about her eyes, blue eyes. Almost called her at lunch but went to pay a bill instead. Now she was going to see HER blue eyed mom. Who probably had Kapusta ready! Double Damn! Then we could go see her, they said. I started shuffling alone down the hall. In my own little fog. Then I hear behind me, Whaddya mean, Jennifers by herself?! Over my shoulder I see Aunt Rosie elbowing and cross-checking relatives, to get to my side. Grabbing my arm, she said, Ill walk in there with you! I smiled. Hard not to when that crazy red heads got you by the elbow! And we walked in together. Reminded me of when Tina would have me sleep over and Aunt Rosie would tell mom, Jennifers gonna stay with me and Tina! My daughter and I cried that night and laughed the next day when a blizzard hit. It was Lent. Becky and I joked that it was her showing the angels that they did a crummy job cleaning Jesus room. Better just let HER do it! And uh...boy! She was really going at it! At the mass on Friday they had a candle lit for her. Her name and Graduation date on it. She had finally graduated to Angel status! Quietly picturing a halod mortar board, i drove up the snowy street smiling. And then, I almost crashed my car into her hearse when I slid on some ice at a stop sign!(yes true!) That candle burned in the church for awhile because mom was a Eucharistic Minister. My friend asked me what that meant. I said I think it meant she was in charge of keeping the poker cards looked after. Mom threw a bingo dabber across the kitchen at me! Oh...Communion! THAT EUCHARIST! Eventually the candles are cleared for new people. Tinas daughter Katty, also active at church, found it and gave it to Tina so it wouldnt get discarded.. Tina told her mom. Aunt Rosie passed it on to her daughter in law Kim, my friend. Maybe you know someone who needs a candle she reportedly said. Kim gave me my mothers candle. It got lit, prayed with, cried in, moved about a dozen times until recently the glass broke but I salvaged the sticker as you can see. Thanks to the love of four women, this unexpected gift has comforted me, expedited special prayers (serious. She and Dad are now our personal spokesmen! Think back if you ever said, say a prayer to Sonny and Rita. Things usually went your way. Now they live down the street from the Holy Family. Mom and Mary have coffee! So they are constantly putting in a good word for us!). And it has meant the world to me. A hand on my shoulder. A thoughtful young womans quick actions and her mothers fondness for her kid cousin. A friend who couldnt wait to make me smile. Aunt Rosie, Tina, Katie, Kim....with all my heart I thank you. I needed you guys to know what your actions meant. Moms birthday would be the 27th. Sometimes we would just get one cake with Rita and Jenn on it. We can share being a day apart. Then on the 28th wed find a way to get a Jenn and Rita cake! WHAT?! Happy Birthday, Saint Rita! Thanks for keeping an eye on Joey!
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 07:02:15 +0000
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